Asian Stocks Gain on G-20; Weaker Dollar Drives Gold to Record

By Darren Boey and Jonathan Burgos

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose after Group of 20 governments agreed to maintain stimulus efforts and Axa SA and AMP Ltd. made the region’s biggest takeover offer this year. Gold climbed to a record after the dollar fell.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent to 117.18 as of 4:50 p.m. in Tokyo. Gold for immediate delivery reached an all-time high of $1,107.91 an ounce as the weakening U.S. currency prompted investors to increase bullion holdings as a store of value. The dollar declined against 13 of its 16 major counterparts amid expectations of low borrowing costs in the U.S. Oil rose as a hurricane disrupted Gulf of Mexico production.

“Maintaining stimulus measures will help support a further rally in equities and commodities, though it’s not necessarily a positive thing,’ said Pauline Dan, Hong Kong-based chief investment officer at Samsung Investment Trust Management, which oversees $100 billion in assets. “That means the economy is not recovering at a desirable pace. The U.S., for instance, does not really have a choice but to keep its monetary policy loose.”

Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. shares surged 33 percent in Sydney after rejecting a hostile bid from its parent and AMP, Australia’s No. 2 insurer by value. The country’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 1.8 percent, buoyed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s report of A$1.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in first-quarter profit.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.7 percent as Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its outlook on Hong Kong and China’s debt ratings to “positive” from “stable.” Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.6 percent.

Carry Trades

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose three basis points to 3.52 percent, according to BGCantor Market Data. The U.S. House approved health-care legislation that would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years, indicating the government will have to increase its debt sales to pay for it.

Gold for immediate delivery advanced 1.1 percent to $1,107.19 an ounce. Prices of the precious metal jumped 5.5 percent in the past month as the Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 6 major counterparts, lost 1.5 percent.

“It’s inextricably linked to the dollar,” said Geoff Clear, head of Asia commodities at Australian & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “All commodities are reflecting dollar weakness and gold at a record is a result of investor appetite and safe-haven buying.”

The Dollar Index dropped 0.7 percent today. The International Monetary Fund said in a Nov. 7 report traders are probably using the dollar to fund so-called carry trades around the world and it may still be overvalued.

Maintaining Support

The U.S. currency fell to $1.4957 per euro in Tokyo from $1.4847 in New York on Nov. 6. It dropped to as low as $1.496, the weakest since Oct. 26. The dollar traded at 90.25 yen from 89.88 yen.

Alistair Darling, hosting in the U.K. a meeting of finance ministers from G-20 nations, said his colleagues decided to keep supporting their economies. Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Nov. 8 that it’s too early to retract government stimulus.

The New Zealand currency rose 1.7 percent to 73.70 U.S. cents as Auckland-based Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s biggest dairy exporter, raised its forecast for milk prices by 19 percent amid growing global demand. Fonterra accounts for about 40 percent of the global trade in butter, milk powder and cheese.

“Dairy prices are one of the fundamental drivers of the New Zealand dollar so with that on board we’ll see more support for the kiwi this week,” said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington.

Hurricane Ida

Crude oil for December delivery in New York rose as much as 1.7 percent to $78.78 a barrel in after-hours trading as Hurricane Ida, packing 105 mile-an-hour winds, entered the southern Gulf of Mexico. Offshore output along the U.S. Gulf accounted for 28 percent of national output in June, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

Chevron Corp. said it began evacuating some personnel. Petroleos Mexicanos, the government-owned oil company, shut 90 wells at onshore fields in the western states of Veracruz and Tabasco, the EFE news service reported.

Ida “could be a mildly bullish event” for oil if any production gets shut-in as a result, said Toby Hassall, research analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “The market doesn’t have the same sensitivity to supply-side issues that it did a couple of years ago.”

Oil, which was recently at $78.65, reached a one-year high of $82 on Oct. 21 as rising stock markets boosted investor confidence and a falling dollar encouraged buying of physical assets.

Axa Takeover

Shares of Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, gained 1.8 percent to HK$12.48. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 oil company, added 1.3 percent to A$48.51.

Axa Asia Pacific soared 33 percent to A$5.70 after rejecting the takeover bid, which is worth about $10 billion. Sydney-based AMP planned to buy Axa Asia Pacific, keep the Australian and New Zealand units, and sell the Asian divisions to Paris-based Axa for A$7.7 billion ($7.1 billion).

“The companies that have come through the crisis best are reasonably cashed up and are looking at how to deploy that cash,” said Angus Gluskie, who oversees about $300 million at White Funds Management Pty. in Sydney, including AMP and Axa Asia Pacific shares.

Commonwealth Bank’s profit report drove the shares up by 4.5 percent to A$55.08 even as Chief Executive Officer Ralph Norris pledged to maintain “conservative business settings.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 66 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9, outpacing gains by the S&P 500 and Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Stocks in the MSCI gauge are valued at 22 times estimated earnings, compared with 17 times for the S&P and 15 times for the Stoxx.

Japanese insurers climbed after boosting profit forecasts. Casualty insurer Aioi Insurance Co. gained 8.7 percent to 427 yen after doubling its full-year net income projection, citing fewer-than-expected typhoons and other natural disasters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Darren Boey in Hong Kong at dboey@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net.